Shane Black attached to direct Doc Savage

Columbia Pictures has hired Shane Black (who made his directing debut with 2005’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) to write and direct Doc Savage. Black is directing from a screenplay he is writing with Anthony Bagarozzia and Chuck Mondry. Neal Moritz will produce.

“Doc Savage is an icon, a character with limitless possibilities,” said Columbia co-president Matt Tolmach of the character, who is by turns a scientist, physician, adventurer, inventor, explorer and researcher. “We have had a great experience working with Neal to bring another classic character of the era, the Green Hornet, to a new generation of fans, and we think he and Shane make the ideal team to bring Doc Savage back to the bigscreen.”

This confirms a report by Collider & AICN that surfaced last October which reported that Black was writing the project and that Mortiz was on board to produce. It was reported at the time that the character will remain in the 30’s and not be modernized. There’s nothing new to report on that front, so presumably that’s still the intent of the studio and creative team.